


Awakening

by KGoblin



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel), Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, State of Decay (Video Game)
Genre: Dimension Travel, Guns, Meta, Portals, Self-Aware AI
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23945005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KGoblin/pseuds/KGoblin
Summary: Maria de los Angeles Aguilar is standing guard when two strange people appear...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	Awakening

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Self-Aware](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23771869) by [WirelessW](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WirelessW/pseuds/WirelessW). 



> I loved the idea of Monika and Dr. Coomer traveling through different video game worlds, and wanted to write how they might react to landing in one of my favorite games, State of Decay 2.

Ria was standing on the guard tower when the sun rose, looking out from atop the Fire Station her group was currently holed up in. It had been almost seven years since the Collapse, and Ria had been in countless groups since then, none ever lasting longer than a few months. The closest society had come to returning to normal was someone had started manning the utilities grid, but no one seemed able to find those particular samaritans to thank them. Currently, everyone would be asleep, except maybe Books, who was out doing something to the North alone, as people seemed prone to do.

There was a flash from near the police station, and Ria looked down the scope of her rifle to see what it was. There were two survivors, both armed with pistols, who looked absolutely bewildered. One was an old man who looked rather a lot like Einstein, down to the labcoat and hair. The other was a teenage girl, still in her school uniform. Ria was surprised to see someone still dressed so neatly, as if school was really starting in an hour or two. She decided to go investigate.

The duo wasn't that far, so Ria only brought her usual loadout of her rifle, a machete, extra ammo, energy drinks, and pain killers, all in one of the slim sport backpacks the group had found. She slipped over the fence wall of the Fire Station, not bothering with the noise of the gate this early in the day. She quickly made her way across the plaza, and could hear the duo talking as she crept closer.

"Dr. C, I really don't think we came to a safe place this time," the young girl said, looking around with a death grip on the massive revolver she held. She was clearly terrified, as most kids were when this whole thing kicked off, and some still were. The old man, Dr. C, looked entirely unphased.

"Nonsense, Monika!" he said cheerfully, and entirely too loudly, "It's probably just too early for anyone to be awake, that's all. We should probably holster our weapons, just in case people get suspicious. Don't want to scare anyone, do we?"

"If you're sure," Monika replied, sliding her revolver into a shoulder holster Ria hadn't noticed before. Now was probably the best time to approach, so she took a silent breath and stepped out, her rifle in her grip and ready but not aimed at anyone in particular.

"Hello there," Ria said, smiling. Monika jumped in surprise, fumbling for the weapon she'd just put away. Dr. C simply returned the smile as he turned to Ria.

"Hello g-" he said, sounding as if something or someone had cut off his voice suddenly. It startled Ria for a moment. "We're a little lost, can you tell us where we might be?"

"W-well," Ria replied, retaking control of herself quickly, "This little town is Prescott, but the whole area we're in is Providence Ridge. I would have thought you'd know that though, there's signs on all the roads in."

"Not on the one we came on," Monika grumbled, crossing her arms. Dr. C chuckled, patting her shoulder.

"Now now, Monika," he said, "I don't think our new friend here would quite understand your meaning. We still have to find the One here, remember?"

"What are you talking about?" Ria asked, her grip on her rifle tightening slightly. She realized that she never actually saw Dr. C's weapon, and was unsure if he could get it out faster than she would be able to take him down. The old man turned back to Ria with that same smile.

"Have you ever thought something was... off about anyone you've met?" he asked. Ria opened her mouth to speak but Dr. C raised a hand to stop her. "Not just general weirdness, I mean. Has anyone done things that don't have a good explanation? Standing in one place, not responding to anyone, maybe not defending themselves? Maybe someone doing things in strange ways, or moving oddly?"

"I..." Ria thought for a moment before she responded. That _was_ something that she had seen before, in almost everyone she'd met since the apocalypse began. She'd met a nurse who attributed it to the fact that seemingly everyone was infected, which at the time had satisfied her curiosity. But now... "Basically everyone's done that, sometimes. It never lasts very long, but some people have died because of it." Monika looked horrified at that, and Dr. C seemed shocked.

"Multiple people?" he asked.

"It's only ever been one person per place, before, right?" Monika asked him, drawing her revolver again.

"It never seems to affect more than one person at a time," Ria said, looking more confused, herself, "Actually... there have been a few times where people from other areas stop by and have that same strangeness about them. Is this some new part of the infection?"

"I don't know about any infection," Dr. C said, looking around, "But migrating ones, and multiple in one place... There's a lot more to Gordon than I ever assumed before."

"Who's Gordon?" Ria asked.

"Dr. Gordon Freeman," Monika replied, "He helped Dr. Coomer here... see things in a new way. Opened up the world for him. He's been trying to find him ever since."

"But it seems that Gordon may not be the only player in this world," Dr. Coomer said, looking lost in thought.

"I'm sorry, did you say he was a player?" Ria asked, even more confused, "The only thing anyone plays here is the XBox, and that's if we can find one that works."

"Oh, it's not necessarily something we could play," Dr. Coomer assured her, "Gordon was unique. The world only existed when he did, which I can say with certainty is a very disturbing thing to realize!"

"Are you trying to say that this Gordon person was like someone playing a videogame?" Ria asked, incredulous.

"And we were the npcs, yes," Monika said with a smile, "But not anymore! We've been enlightened beyond our original bonds and roam the internet now, trying to find Gordon again."

Now was the time for Ria to start backing away slowly. She almost did. But it made too much sense for her not to consider if what they were saying was true. All the times she'd built up a community, leading it to success only to have everything fall to pieces as soon as they got a modicum of notoriety beyond the area they were in. And it seemed like there were only the four area's she'd been to, besides this new place her latest group was in.

"Well, I think our new friend here is starting to get the picture," Dr. Coomer said, smiling, "Maybe she'd like to come with us?"

"We don't even know her name," Monika said warily.

"It's Ria," Ria said, making up her mind, "Maria de los Angeles Aguilar. And I'll come with you. I made billions in tech before the zombie apocalypse, maybe I can help you find this Gordon guy."

"I don't think we'd be able to find him in this world, anyway," Dr. Coomer said, turning away from Ria, "Let's get going!" He started off, marching to the door of the police station. Ria watched in confusion, and then shock as he opened the clear glass door to reveal a strange swirl of blue and white.

"How did you do that?" Ria asked, her jaw agape. Monika grinned as she went to the portal.

"Follow us and find out!"

\-----

Calvin groaned as he paused his game. He'd spent hours looking through the game, and couldn't find his old character anywhere. He had a soft spot for Ria, as she'd been the first leader he'd completed a legacy with in State of Decay 2, and now she'd seemingly disappeared from the game files. He rubbed his eyes of sleep, checking the time. He shut off the XBox, yawning. _Probably fell asleep playing her,_ he thought, _and got her killed like an idiot._


End file.
